 Crane Erector Set |
When I was a kid I used to play with Erector sets with a friend. The Erector sets taught me valuable lessons of mechanics and simple machines. It also enhanced my understanding of illustrated directions. I never had one myself but when I went to his house it was the first thing we did. For Christmas I bought the Crane set for my son who is about to turn 7. I knew going into it that I would be doing most of the steps and would be letting him do the easy steps. Together we built the crane and we both had a lot of fun doing it. The entire time we worked on the project I was thinking of how cool it would be to buy a couple of kits for my 7th graders at school. I know the management of running a full class using the kits would be expensive and exhausting. So I continued to brainstorm of how I could use Erector sets in school. I came up with the Idea of having an after school Technology Club with a limited number of students. I am hoping the school will pick up the tab for the kits so I don't have to do any fund raising, yuck. The kits can be used over and over again as they are built out of metal. The level of difficulty varies depending on the kit that is purchased, I am going to try to purchase 5 kits and run them in groups of two or three. Three of the kits will be beginner kits and two will be more advanced. The students will have to complete an easy build before attempting the more complex builds. Of course over time some parts may go missing or get broken, but since the parts are universal you could scrap one kit and use it to replace missing parts in other kits. I am excited to get this started and intend on approaching our principle or the PTA to purchase the kits. I really think it will be a hit with the kids. Please share your thoughts and experiences below.
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